There's a national park in Wales called Snowdonia, and it seems like it would be a place where the Avengers would be fighting a super villain. Maybe he's some kind of temperature controlling mastermind holed up in a fortress in... Snowdonia.
Gadfly | Professor at Old Dominion University | I post about social science, culture, and progressive politics | Views are my own https://rodgraham.substack.com/
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There's a national park in Wales called Snowdonia, and it seems like it would be a place where the Avengers would be fighting a super villain. Maybe he's some kind of temperature controlling mastermind holed up in a fortress in... Snowdonia.
I guess the point would be that you can't anymore.
I'm surprised I don't see these kinds of questions more often. unless you know where to look, most of our explanations are framed for us by politicized influencers for the audiences they've captured/trying to capture. Hard to find that kind of content online.
We have very inhuman ways of understanding why we do very human things. Humans make decisions about people and politics not based on logic and reason, but emotion and connection. Once we fully understand that, we can begin dealing with this seemingly intractable problem of polarization.
Because most news organizations these days are ultimately profit seeking entertainment organizations, we can expect wapo to try and position themselves as a high-end New York times for conservatives. If they aren't doing that already.
I think you're right. Can you do something about people losing their jobs for not expressing the appropriate sentiment?
Well lemme try and look at this from a different angle...a more constructive one, I think. youtu.be/K2Swu6YU_T8
I mean, isn't everyone doing free speech the "right way" if the bar is set so low now? At this point, on what logical grounds does one have for criticizing any political speech that is not a threat or call for violence? The incidents of the last week end all serious discussion.
If every time I spoke to my neighbor, they complained about some other group causing "us" problems, I don't want to talk to that neighbor. It never occurs to us that if our favorite influencer(s) always makes us feel negative about another group, then the problem is the influencer, not the group.
I think the idea itself is under-theorized. It could be that I am not aware of the research done on it. Will DM.
The academic interest in exploring the phenomenon of stochastic terrorism was, it seems, suppressed by conservative elements. It's our loss. We don't have an effective theoretical framework for understanding under what conditions statements by influential people lead directly to harming others.
Thanks!
Social scientists have the same problem scientists had before microscopes - there are social forces impacting us, but "seeing" them is hard. Convincing someone of something called "social forces" is about as difficult as convincing someone invisible microbes, not the devil, is making them sick.
From @theconversation.com "How to avoid seeing disturbing content on social media and protect your peace of mind" theconversation.com/how-to-avoid...
It's the most censorious period in my life as well. Unlike censoring specific words (n-word, c-word) or ideas (biological determinism), this regime is trying to surveil and discipline...emotions. It is the most aggressive attempt at censorship a regime can undertake.
I am having a hard time reconciling "Charlie Kirk was a fierce advocate of open dialogue and free expression" with "we must identify and persecute everyone who is insufficiently mournful"
"They celebrated his death. They must be held accountable." We use the phrase, "they must be held accountable" all the time. It's instructive to do a mental exercise: What are the norms being transgressed and what are the sanctions for that transgression? The answers could be revealing.
For me the performative dynamic is what I find most interesting. Indeed, I think the root of our polarization is the incentive people have to act in these ways. There's a kind of outrage market that people are tapping into. We should expect several more Kirks to fill the gap.
Most of the public saw the "influencer/businessman" persona - a performance meant to gin up discord and exploit it politically/economically. His bigotry was real, but he was a jerk on purpose. But when not performing, he would act like a respectful, God-fearing young man. Nah can't be. Right?
How we talk to ourselves as we write ourselves as we edit ourselves.
Hey Elon. I have some clients for you.
Historians might inform future generations that our last two presidents were, Woodrow Wilson like, never really in control of their own inner circle and were being "handled" as it were by the real decision makers. The former because of age, the latter because of ignorance.
"Disclaimer: These comments are not meant to slander or disrespect the Kirk family or his supporters in any way. My goal here is to explore sociological phenomena using real world examples. Personal opinions expressed in this process are not my employers." youtu.be/a-8Vsm9nozc
Don't follow him enough to have known these were his thoughts. Because Klein is public talker like Kirk, it's wise for him to say something like that. I'm not saying he is being disingenuous. It's more he has a heightened awareness of violence and that is reflected in these thoughts.
Sarcasm?
I'm going to think positively... At least for now.
Not the way people are thinking at the moment, but recent events may have the benefit of bringing more right-wingers to the table to discuss violence. Up till now most of the violence has been directed at liberal politicians and groups most likely to vote Dem. Shared misery brings folks together.
Academics need the equivalent of an ICE mask.
Interestingly, this headline goes for so many MAGA influencers. We could interpret this as someone pursuing the American Dream and achieving great material wealth and notoriety. We could also see it as a failure of our system to bestow the greatest influence on those most deserving.
I can somewhat see that for people with complicated histories. Washington by all accounts was a fine general and did us a favor of setting a precedent of leaving the presidency after 2 years, but he also owned slaves. Don't know what the redeeming quality is for Kirk. Made a lot of money? 2/2
It is entirely possible that a statue or monument of Kirk will be erected near the White House. It occurs to me it's the same dynamic from ages ago where statues of slave traders and colonialists were built, with no regard to the misery they visited on people. 1/2
My fellow academics who want to be public and are still not willing to take a law enforcement "just get home safe" approach to their jobs. They need to. Uh...I need to? www.nashvillepost.com/politics/fed...
Am I to understand that Matthew dowd was fired for saying in reference to Kirk that there were consequences to his speech? Was the firing a way of... agreeing with him? Seems either brilliant, nonsensical, or ironic. I'm not sure.
These kinds of contradictions are no longer interesting to me because I always expect them. We should look for emotional consistency in people, never rational consistency. So we should expect conservatives to treat Kirk - whom they have warm feelings for, differently than Horton.
Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please!
A few years ago, the phenomena of #stochasticterrorism was hot b/c folks could see the impact hate online has on people. Conservatives reacted the usual way - claim biased, woke research to cover the fact they worried it pertained to them the most. Maybe now they'll change their minds?
Yes, viewpoint diversity is antithetical to academic freedom. If you are forced by decree to introduce viewpoints into your class, or *find* them out of some crazy premise that science *must* have a left and right viewpoint, your academic freedom is compromised. www.aaup.org/seven-theses...
Oh I would like to use these screenshots if you don't mind!
I would not be surprised if a statue appeared...which is insane. I had my neighbor come up to me so sad yesterday, and I felt for him (although I did not share his sadness). It was like he lost a child. Different media environments lead to wildly different understandings of the world.
While it is (to me) unseemly to revel in a person's murder, we can still talk honestly about Kirk's behavior and ideology. Please share to keep the record straight. The fact of the matter is this person lived by hate and guns, and died by hate and guns. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Apparently for some... Charlie Kirk >= Martin Luther King in terms of importance and reverence.
That doesn't mean much tho...could be a disguise.
Melissa Hortman, Charlie Kirk. Left, Right. Progressive. Conservative. There may be a tendency now to leverage the Kirk shooting as evidence of some unique Left-Wing problem of political violence. Of course, this is not true (most domestic terrorism is from the right anyway).
Dowd was fired for what I think is an accurate assessment of our current state of play. It's unfortunate, but the reality of things that a media organization is more concerned about revenue than reality. variety.com/2025/tv/news...
This politics. I did not live in the same reality where Charlie Kirk was some kind of..."uniter." This dude woke up spewing hate and was happy to do so. But if you are trying to curry favor with independents and liberals alike, you have to say this to not piss those disparate groups off.
Not quite a topic of interest today...or ever. But a new version of @netlogo.bsky.social was released today. Love to see more social scientists using agent based modeling. www.netlogo.org
I won't be able to bring myself to find that much pleasure in the death of Charlie Kirk. But it doesn't mean the only acceptable conversation is "his family is in our prayers." He's a cautionary tale. He generated hate and he was pro-guns. he died by those very things.
I think we need better gun laws in this country. But everyone doesn't agree.
Just some thoughts on that Texas A&M foolishness. Also, I need better lighting. #sociology #academicsky #neighborhoodsociologist youtu.be/cbpOlu-BPIQ
These slides for my lecture today are fraught with culture war danger. It was not so just five years ago. We have a relationship backwards. It's not that social science has become more politically biased, but that society has become so politicized it *interprets* outputs from academia as biased.
Meaning you have to be ever vigilant with parents students, and the general public because they could potentially hurt you. Maybe we should preemptively record our classes or any convo with students, learn PR tactics so we can convey info in ways that can't be exploited. Etc. Etc. 2/2
I matured into this profession at a time when it was still possible to hold a more romantic view of higher education. That's really not possible now. Seems almost better now to take the "always get home safe" law enforcement approach to one's profession. 1/2 www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...
In modern academia, professors have no choice but to talk about politics because politics are talking about them. All issues of import are now collapsed into Left and Right positions. *Any* elevated classroom discussion beyond relaying decontextualized "facts" will have political implications.
SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in a college applicant's file is blatantly unconstitutional ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
It is a new day in higher education (at least for me) as a cell phone is not a hindrance, but a helper. I can engage every student in a larger class in ways impossible before - image creation, on the spot research, podcasting, vlogging, etc. It's exciting. #AI #academicsky #sociology #criminology
The reason why we can always find contradictions in our political adversaries statements (ex. You are for free speech except when it comes to books about transpersons) is because the many ideologies we adhere to are not by design intellectually coherent. They are meant to be *emotionally* coherent.
If you can navigate around all the folks in yoga pants and scrunchies, Trader Joe's might just be the perfect grocery store.
What if I told you that what seemed like the biggest distraction in a classroom - phones, turns out to be one of the best ways to get the attention and engage with students? #neighborhoodsociologist #sociology #academicsky #cybersecurity #cybercrime
Listening to this podcast where this guy who lived in New York City all his life and moved to Philadelphia is analogizing Philadelphia to... a college town? Wow.
At this point these performances - I guess they are called hearings or some such - have no beneficial function, save for showing Americans that the people they voted for can put on performances. It is rare (never) for something to happen in these things that changes the direction of policy.
I would like to be a part of a rag tag team that saves the day, and in the process learn how much they have in common.
The media really is terrible with respect to Donald Trump. They basically figure out which direction his ass is heading and then put their lips there in anticipation. I want a news media that is always critical of our leaders. If they are antagonistic by design I feel I can trust them more.
Heart failure?!?!? Anyway, stay away from the young ones. They are the carriers.
When characters in TV shows reminisce about being bullied in HS, the bullies all have names like Billy Creesel and Jimmy Tedesco.
Seems the majority of professors in movies are humanities professors. I guess it's because the scriptwriters are, well, writers...and most likely majored in a humanities discipline.
Trump's behavior shows us just how much of life is ordered by unwritten expectations. Only when people violate those rules do we become aware of those expectations. Maybe there isn't a written law explicitly forcing the president to spend as directed by Congress...it was just...expected.
Ha!
It is a spiral...rewind spiral sounds as good as anything else!
There has to be a name for that thing you do where you are listening to a podcast, get distracted with a thought and have to rewind the podcast, only to get distracted again with another, different thought...and this might continue several times.
This can be understood as the creation of a secret police the president can deploy at his whim. At least monthly, I'm struck by the realization that I could be living through the beginnings of a state that people 100 yrs from now will be talking about its atrocities like Nazi Germany.
So while liberals are in general more educated and affluent - and thus the delta between they and their elected representatives is smaller, it's still there and growing. The Left will also be lied to, will also be enraged, and will also vote accordingly - just not to the same degree. 2/2
This is in the middle of this thread, but it is the main idea. I agree with this - although judging them dumb and selfish is not needed. Modern capitalist democracies can be hijacked because of the ever growing inherent information and resource differential between rich and poor. 1/2
I will carry this view with me for the rest of my life. It conforms with my moral compass and understanding of human nature.
It is only in the many choices they make after negative feelings are recognized, can we make any claims about this person's morality or "badness." The media generate a lot of clicks from these type of "old man throwing a remote at the TV" stories, but we'd be wise to postpone our judgement. 2/2
Many people who developed their societal expectations in a time before queer representation in the media will have this kind of reaction. It's not because of their hate or ignorance. Feeling negative emotions in the face of unexpected changes is all too human. 1/2 www.yahoo.com/entertainmen...
Yeah like what will be the equivalent of the scene where Tre loses it after Ricky gets shot?
Pretty sure there will be a glut of TV and movies highlighting "MAGA" culture in the next few years. Looking forward to viewing them with the same voyeuristic and exoticizing gaze I imagine audiences brought to 90's black urban films.
I think "bias" is overused. It gets conflated with genuinely derived perspectives and opinions, which is different than someone who intentionally (or more often unintentionally) fails to recognize their prejudices and assumptions.
There is psychobabble and there's also sociobabble. I hope I don't do too much of the latter this semester.
He seems to be gaining traction for a possible presidential bid, but I haven't been following closely.
So Gavin Newsome is affecting the same type of presentation as Donald Trump..only from the Left. Interesting to see this play out and it worries me because if he's successful then this will become the standard practice.
OK so now the thing to be "outraged" about are male cheerleaders, and off we go. Future humans are going to judge our relationship with the media the same way we judge ancient humans' relationship with the weather - With a kind of paternalistic bemusement, thinking of how naive we used to be.
"ChatGPT doesn’t end higher education. At least not yet. In fact, it clears space for us to move past rote memorization and into what really matters: creativity, contextual thinking, and embodied engagement." rodgraham.substack.com/p/how-i-beat...
The urge to interpret phenomena in ways beneficial to one's interests is stronger than the urge to interpret phenomena in a way understood by an impartial observer to be objective. And so white Americans who strongly identify as white are more likely to support the claim slavery was "not so bad."
For the sociologist at least, few cultural artifacts hold more evidentiary value than honestly written first person biographies. I'm reading about this biracial kid in Nazi Germany who joins the "swingboys" - a cultural movement that developed in opposition to Nazi youth culture. Wut?!?!
This piece got popular through word of mouth. It certainly wasn't boosted by a social media platform. Nor did it get an endorsement from a popular person. I think it just speaks to something real. roderickshawngraham.medium.com/the-moment-i...
Hey @anacondainc.bsky.social waiting on the release of the Linux version of your AI Navigator!
Bro that is a good question for which I have no answers...and so much of what creates the environment is out of this app's hands - as long as Trump is making headlines and presents himself as an existential threat, folks won't have the space for entertaining alternate viewpoints.